Many desktop and mobile computing devices are now configured to provide web mapping applications. Such applications can offer satellite imagery, street maps, and street view perspectives, as well as functions such as route planning. In addition, web mapping applications can provide information about real world features shown on a map presented by the application. For example, the application can be used to provide contact information and business hours for retail stores shown on a map. Mobile computing devices, such as smartphones, typically include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver for navigation and for displaying a position of the device on the map.
Localization or positioning of real world features can be very expensive for companies or institutions to acquire. Various techniques are currently available for mapping or defining a geographic position of real world objects or events at a gross level. For example, geotagging has been used for adding geographic identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR codes, or RSS feeds. However, current techniques and systems for localizing relatively small or time varying events have resulted in poor spatial accuracy. Accordingly, there is a need to provide improved systems and techniques for defining the geographic position of locations, particularly those that are relatively small or time varying.
In addition, searching for information about features in a user's environment can be very time-consuming for users. As an example, searching for information over the Internet on a mobile computing device requires the user to enter text information into a text browser on a web browser. Searches that are map-based require that the user read locations on the map and indicate which features are of interest. Accordingly, there is a need to provide improved systems and techniques for defining the geographic position of locations in a user's vicinity by quick and efficient means.